Can anybody tell me how they get away with it.

[Dalescott]

I have a particular interest in Airlines. Particularly the route that go from Australia to UK, and vis a versa. One thing that I find very interesting is the huge difference in the cost of the Aus to UK, and UK to Aus. These figures are from Emirates are are for
3rd July out and 24th July return, and in both directions.
Aus to UK : Aus Dollars 17074.90 = UK Sterling 9544.87
UK to Aus : Aus Dollars 11507.01 = UK Sterling 6924.84
The Difference = 5567.89 & 2620.03
Can anybody give me any ideas why, I am particularly interested to get info from people within the Industry, and in particular the Airlines.
The above figures are from Emirates Websites both Aus and UK.

 

[anat0l]

This question is very often asked.

The simple answer is: because they can. They can charge these prices and the markets in which those prices exist will pay that much for them. In the case of Australia, we are cursed by having higher fares here, but people will pay that much because that is what the market will tolerate.

It is a similar principle for other countries, and it's all to do with the target market and what an airline can charge and still get good loads and make good profits out of that market.

 

[dajop]

Don't need to be in the industry to know it is simple laws of supply and demand, and pricing to what the market will bear. A few of things to remember, 1) it is winter in AUS and summer in the UK, most demand is from cold to hot 2) Australia escaped the worst of the economic downturn whereas the UK was in the thick of it, and still recovering and 3) AUD is strong at the moment and GBP pretty weak. Also, the loadings (number of seats sold) from AUS-UK on 3rd July could be much higher than from UK-AUS on the same date and vice versa on 24 July.

You find this sort of variation on most airlines on most international routes. It is even possible to book flights on some carriers to/from intermediate point from Australia and then from the intermediate point to/from UK for cheaper than going all the way through from Australia, all though that comes with risks are you are not protected for connections should something go wrong (delay) , and is advisable to do a stopover at that intermediate point.

 

[MANfroMELB]

Same applies for all airfares from South Africa to Europe, USA and Aus.....always up to a third cheaper.....I have on occasion taken a one-way FF ticket to South Africa and then bought a return (SA-AUS-SA) and scored....

As the prior poster suggested, they are because that’s what the market will or will not pay....simple as that...

 

[Dave Noble]

What class of travel? GBP7000 seems pretty high for UK-OZ even in 1st class. ex LON for 3rd-24 July EK in 1st can be got for GBP5175 ( $8855 ) with EY coming in at GBP4575 ( $7827 )

They charge more ex Australia because they can. Fares are based on what the market will bear. If they can get $14000 for a ticket, why sell for $8000. There is , imo, a lot more competition on travel in UK and people generally are a lot less interested in FF schemes and will choose on cost


For Europe to Australia flying predominantly on Emirates this upcoming sunday , I have managed to get $6500 for 1st class r/t due to the pricing in the country I was starting in; from another starting position, if I was happy to downgrade to BA/QF , could have ( with a bit more effort ) got 1st class for around $5000 ( but would have had to back track to London which doesn't overly appeal )

Always good to look around and see whether there is somewhere else enroute where a better fare can be obtained

Dave

 

[Dalescott]

What class of travel? GBP7000 seems pretty high for UK-OZ even in 1st class. ex LON for 3rd-24 July EK in 1st can be got for GBP5175 ( $8855 ) with EY coming in at GBP4575 ( $7827 )

They charge more ex Australia because they can. Fares are based on what the market will bear. If they can get $14000 for a ticket, why sell for $8000. There is , imo, a lot more competition on travel in UK and people generally are a lot less interested in FF schemes and will choose on cost


For Europe to Australia flying predominantly on Emirates this upcoming sunday , I have managed to get $6500 for 1st class r/t due to the pricing in the country I was starting in; from another starting position, if I was happy to downgrade to BA/QF , could have ( with a bit more effort ) got 1st class for around $5000 ( but would have had to back track to London which doesn't overly appeal )

Always good to look around and see whether there is somewhere else enroute where a better fare can be obtained

Dave

The prices are straight off the Emirates web site. I am not in the industry, but I am writing an article (not for Aus) for a magazine.
Dave it sounds like you are in the industry, so you will know the prices better than I would. I know all about supply and demand, but is this across all airline, are some worse than other. Is the US to Aus v Aus to US, different in costing in regards to flights costs, in comparision to Aus to UK V UK to Aus the same.
I note the a previous person has said that it is the same with regard to SA.
I would be very interested to hear from anybody re this.

 

[Dave Noble]

The prices are straight off the Emirates web site. I am not in the industry, but I am writing an article (not for Aus) for a magazine.

Ah; there are some good consolidator fares around; I got the fares from the netflights.com site. From Emirates's site itself , LON-SYD is available for GBP5263 from Gatwick and GBP5275 from Heathrow in 1st class

Dave it sounds like you are in the industry, so you will know the prices better than I would. I know all about supply and demand, but is this across all airline, are some worse than other. Is the US to Aus v Aus to US, different in costing in regards to flights costs, in comparision to Aus to UK V UK to Aus the same.
I note the a previous person has said that it is the same with regard to SA.
I would be very interested to hear from anybody re this.

Actually the UK is often not the cheapest place to start from. Where I am starting my travels from , the fare is EUR4279 ( $6093 / GBP3551 ) on EK. The price of a flight there was $400 approx in business class . Starting in Australia, on a good day, might be able to get a fare like that in business class, but this is not a special fare and has no change fees , is refundable etc

Australia can be fleeced , so it is

Dave

 

[albatross710]

Can anybody give me any ideas why, I am particularly interested to get info from people within the Industry, and in particular the Airlines.
.

Sort of like a departure tax.

 

[Alanslegal]

I note the a previous person has said that it is the same with regard to SA.
I would be very interested to hear from anybody re this.

The same could be said for Australia to Singapore return is generally 30-35% more than Singapore to Australia return. Rather than complain about the inequity in cost, most savvy flyers 'adjust' their travelling patterns to maximise these cost savings.

 

[serfty]

The ex Australian market is relatively expensive when compared to those for many other countries.

Even Oz-NZ r/t is ~$50 in general more expensive than NZ-Oz at the cheapest levels.

Yesterday I booked on Air NZ LAX-AKL-MEL r/t for USD896 all up. Departure from LAX is in early November, return in February.

This will link up nicely with the USD940 fare I booked several months ago on Qantas from LAX to MEL with departure last Sunday, returning in late October.

I travelled to LAX a week ago on another separate fare. I now have to arrange further travel back to melbourne for Feburay, but need to discern when I wish for subsequent travel.

Of course this only works if you plan to travel round trips on the same general overseas destination more than once per year.

 

[odysseus]

One of the other reasons is competition. While there are limited land transport options outside of Sydney/Australia, and comparatively limited flight destinations, London and European hubs (amongst others) have a plethora of choices, and with that competition means cheaper prices.

Pricing out of those locations has to be compared against other choices as well and kept realistic; hence prices are kept lower than they can be here where we just don't have so many choices.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I suppose the more relevant question is to just ask why we're willing to pay the higher costs??

If travelers decided the price was too high then either the airlines have to reduce capacity or drop prices.

Obviously we're paying the higher prices so no business is going to reduce it's pricing unless it's going to make more money that way.

 

[anat0l]

I suppose the more relevant question is to just ask why we're willing to pay the higher costs??

If travelers decided the price was too high then either the airlines have to reduce capacity or drop prices.

Obviously we're paying the higher prices so no business is going to reduce it's pricing unless it's going to make more money that way.

If travelers decide the price is too high, what do they do? At the moment, all they can do is walk away.

Another customer will probably take their declined purchase.

Unless there was a huge consumer backlash or perhaps when one of the airlines sets a precedent and charges a lower price, then we might see something. A good example of this was the price wars and resulting lower fares on the Trans-Pacific routes. Even with this specific case, it is still cheaper to fly ex-USA to Australia than vv.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

http://www.expedia.com/daily/promos...eal.flt_mesoqa&rfrr=-53323&mcecid=ipsplash_au

LAX to SYD
$339 + Tax one way on QF.
Return for around, say, $700-$800.

 

[JeniSkunk]

I suppose the more relevant question is to just ask why we're willing to pay the higher costs??

How many Australian know of the difference in the prices? It's that lack of knowledge that lets manufacturers and retailers as well as the airlines get away with this behaviour. If no-one knows about the rort, then no-one complains to the ACCC about the behaviour. Without any complaints about the rort to the ACCC, there has been no attempt to apply pricing regulation on the companies so that prices in Australia are the same as prices outside of Australia. The ACCC and the governemnts, despite their knowing of this rort, won't act until there are complaints.
It's the lack of knowledge of the Australian public, combined with successive governments being unwilling to stop a rort, that maintains the status quo of Australians being ripped off across the board.

Jenifur Charne

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I was just thinking whether it would set the cat amongst the pigeons to make a claim of racial discrimination against the airlines to HREOC :shock:

I suppose the airlines can claim an Australia can buy the tickets, though ozzie citizens ability to make use of the cheaper tickets is probably quite limited.

 

[pauly7]

How many Australian know of the difference in the prices? It's that lack of knowledge that lets manufacturers and retailers as well as the airlines get away with this behaviour. If no-one knows about the rort, then no-one complains to the ACCC about the behaviour. Without any complaints about the rort to the ACCC, there has been no attempt to apply pricing regulation on the companies so that prices in Australia are the same as prices outside of Australia. The ACCC and the governemnts, despite their knowing of this rort, won't act until there are complaints.
It's the lack of knowledge of the Australian public, combined with successive governments being unwilling to stop a rort, that maintains the status quo of Australians being ripped off across the board.

Jenifur Charne

Calm down much?! Lol

The ACCC has no case coverage here.

Now if the airlines were colluding on setting prices in Australia (with the exception of pre-approved agreements) then you might have ACCC involvement.

 

[MelUser]

There is no rort.

Retail is about charging your customers as much as you possibly can (up to point before they go elsewhere).

As long as people keep flying with Qantas, Qantas can charge them whatever it wants. People (including myself!) obviously see value in the Qantas offer - safety, in flight service, lounges, frequent flyer program etc etc.

 

[dajop]

There is no rort.

Retail is about charging your customers as much as you possibly can (up to point before they go elsewhere)..

Exactly. There is no case against the airline, if there was where would it stop? I can remember once in Boston I was in a supermarket and they were selling Australian oranges about 2/3 the price the same oranges were selling in Coles/Safeway back in Melbourne - and that's after transporting them half way around the world - so do we take Coles/Safeway to ACCC for "rorting" Australian consumers?

Airlines charge what the market will bear. No-one is forcing anybody into any particular decisions, and there is always the option of not travelling and staying at home!

 

[straitman]

How many Australian know of the difference in the prices? It's that lack of knowledge that lets manufacturers and retailers as well as the airlines get away with this behaviour. If no-one knows about the rort, then no-one complains to the ACCC about the behaviour. Without any complaints about the rort to the ACCC, there has been no attempt to apply pricing regulation on the companies so that prices in Australia are the same as prices outside of Australia. The ACCC and the governemnts, despite their knowing of this rort, won't act until there are complaints.
It's the lack of knowledge of the Australian public, combined with successive governments being unwilling to stop a rort, that maintains the status quo of Australians being ripped off across the board.

Jenifur Charne

Jenifur,

I must agree with the others that their is no ACC case but at the same time must ask you why you think there is a case :?:

Are the rest of us missing something that you have pinged onto :?: